PM Modi meets secretaries, asks them to identify concrete goals

GST will be the turning point in country's history

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked top bureaucrats to identify concrete goals to be achieved by 2022, particularly focussing on the development of 100 most backward districts in a mission mode through short time frames.

Modi, while interacting with all the secretaries to the government of India, asked them to rise above the "administrative mechanisms of earlier centuries" and work beyond the "silos" of their respective ministries for the development of the country.

He told them that they had an opportunity to transform the lives of one-sixth of humanity, a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Underlining that institutions must be made "outcome- oriented", the prime minister asked the bureaucrats to identify concrete goals to be achieved by 2022, the 75th anniversary of Independence.

He called for a mission mode approach to the 100 most backward districts in India and said specific goals should be set on various parameters indefinite short time frames for these districts, the PMO said.

While asking the bureaucrats not to work in silos, Modi said the some of the best results in the last three years had been achieved when the entire government machinery worked in unison, as a team.

In this regard, he cited examples such as financial inclusion (Jan Dhan Yojana) and universal immunisation (Mission Indradhanush), the PMO said.

On 'Swachhta Abhiyan', the prime minister said, "the biggest groundswell of support has come from the people, and that is driving change at the administrative level."

Turning to the planned roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from July 1, he said it would mark a "turning point" in the country's history.

He asked the secretaries to proactively prepare for this transformation, to ensure a smooth transition, the statement said.

The prime minister told the bureaucrats that "the world is looking at India differently today and this is a unique opportunity which should not be missed. Let us build mechanisms to meet global expectations."

Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari also addressed the secretaries.

Earlier, the secretaries made some suggestions on various sectors of governance., the PMO said.